Influential media personality Tucker Carlson revealed his true colors as the most dangerous spokesman for Replacement Theology in his recent interview with Texas Senator Ted Cruz. In the two-hour interview, which already has more than 1 million views on YouTube within the first 24 hours it was published, Carlson asked Cruz why he supports Israel’s war against Iran, and why he is “so obsessed” with Israel.
Here is an excerpt of their exchange:
CRUZ: “Growing up in Sunday School, I was taught from the Bible, “Those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed, and I want to be on the blessing side.”
CARLSON: Those who bless the government of Israel?
CRUZ: Those who bless Israel, is what it says. It doesn’t say the government, it says the Nation of Israel. So that’s in the Bible. As a Christian, I believe that.
CARLSON: Where is that?
CRUZ: I can find it for you. I don’t have the Scripture off the tip of my tongue. You can pull out your phone…
CARLSON: It’s in Genesis. So you’re quoting a Bible phrase and you don’t have context for it, you don’t know where in the Bible it is, but that’s your Theology? I’m confused. What does that even mean?
CRUZ: Where does my support for Israel come from? Number one, because biblically, we are commanded to support Israel, but number two…
CARLSON: Hold on. You’re a Senator and now you’re throwing out theology? I am a Christian and I am allowed to weigh in on this. We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel?
CRUZ: We are commanded to support Israel.
CARLSON: What does that mean, Israel?
CRUZ: We’re told, ‘those who bless Israel will be blessed.’
CARLSON: But wait, hold on, define Israel. This is important! Are you kidding? This is a majority Christian country.
CRUZ: Define Israel? Do you not know what Israel is? That would be the country you’ve asked like forty nine questions about.
CARLSON: So that’s what Genesis, that’s what God is talking about?
CRUZ: The nation of Israel, yes.
CARLSON: So is that the current borders, the current leadership? He’s talking about the political entity called Israel?
CRUZ: He’s talking about the nation of Israel. Yes, nations exist and He’s discussing a nation, the people of Israel.
CARLSON: Is the nation God is referring to in Genesis, is that the same as the country run by Benjamin Netanyahu right now?
CRUZ: Yes.
In this heated exchange, Senator Cruz articulated what millions of American voters believe: that if America does not support Israel, especially now, in its existential war with Iran, America is putting itself in grave danger for not acting in accordance with Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you and all the nations shall be blessed by you.”
These are God’s first words to Abraham, who is directed to leave his home and birthplace and travel to a new land where his descendants will become a great nation.
Genesis 12:3, is the primary source for American Christians who believe that a main reason the United States has been so prosperous is on account of its close relationship and support for the Jewish State.
Carlson, on the other hand, was expressing the view that Christianity in fact supersedes Judaism. After the Jews rejected Jesus, God broke His covenant with the nation of Israel and even replaced the “Old” Testament with the “New” one. This belief is known as Replacement Theology, and was the primary driver in Christian thought throughout history. Replacement Theology led directly to centuries of Christian antisemitism, Crusades, Inquisitions, pogroms and the Holocaust. After the horrors of World War Two and the miracles surrounding the founding of the State of Israel, millions of American Christians have rejected Replacement Theology in recent decades and have come to believe that God has maintained a special relationship with Israel, the land and the people.
Both Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson are strong supporters of President Trump and have been very vocal advocating for and against America’s support for Israel’s war against Iran. Many commentators and pundits have been scrutinizing the split occurring in Trump’s base, and predicting how it will affect the Commander in Chief’s decision making. Will Trump be persuaded by the MAGA isolationists like Carlson or intervensionists like Cruz?
President Trump finally made it clear that he is backing Israel’s war and demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” He even called out “kooky Tucker” directly in a tweet for his bizarre support for the Islamic Regime. Yet, Carlson continues to try splitting apart the MAGA movement and has influence over Vice President JD Vance and others in the Trump administration.
By mocking Cruz with such disdain, Carlson is letting the mask slip that his own opinions are more theological than ideological. With his enormous platform, and at a perilous time when Iranian ballistic missiles are raining down on Israel’s most populous cities, Tucker is not only the latest mouthpiece for Replacement Theology, but when it comes to “cursing Israel”, he is perhaps the most dangerous of all time.
Rabbi Tuly Weisz is the founder of Israel365, which supports Israel by nurturing healthy relations between Christians and Jews and since the war, has taken a leading role in faith based advocacy for Israel.
